The first Brazilian training course for journalists covering peacekeeping missions took place in the city of Rio de Janeiro from 10 to 14 March. This initiative was made possible by a newly established partnership between UNIC Rio de Janeiro and the Training Centre for Peacekeeping Operations (CI Op Paz) of the Brazilian Army, which was created in 2007 to train all Brazilian military personnel in peacekeeping missions in Haiti and elsewhere.
The Centre’s Director and the National Information Officer, together with the CI Op Paz Commander, created the agenda for the five-day course, which included lectures on many subjects such as the United Nations System, human rights and humanitarian international law, Brazilian foreign policy, the MINUSTAH mission in Haiti, the role of communication in peacekeeping operations, and the evolution of UN peacekeeping strategy. The Centre’s Director delivered lectures on the UN System, the peacekeeping missions and the role of information in international politics. UNIC Rio arranged for a teleconference with the public information officer of MINUSTAH, who briefed the journalists on the peacekeeping force and answered many questions from them.
The course also had practical activities in the field, including first aid notions, identification of mines, use of GPS and hostage negotiation, among others.
For the entire week, the participants lived at the premises of the CI Op Paz, in the western zone of Rio, sleeping in containers and in tents, in a fictional country, called Tudistan, where Brazilian Army units were deployed in an also fictional UN peacekeeping force. While there, the journalists worked as embedded journalists in a Brazilian unit and were exposed to meticulously reconstructed risk situations such as mortar shelling and a car bomb suicide attack. They were taught how to act in this kind of environment. Afterwards, the Brazilian commander gave a simulated press conference to answer the journalists’ questions.
The course represented a unique opportunity to strengthen knowledge and mutual understanding between journalists, the military and the UNIC staff. It created a more solid base for further cooperation on peacekeeping-related activities. A new edition of the training course is planned to take place in the second half of 2008.